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SINGAPORE’S economy grew 2.8 per cent in 2014, but the “moderately well” performance was dimmed by a “disappointing” minus 0.5 per cent productivity growth in the first three quarters of the year.Unveiling these numbers in his New Year Message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said that real median incomes continued to rise, leading to a 10 per cent jump over the last five years. Productivity has been weak for the third year in a row, according to Mr Lee who said that Singapore must redouble its efforts to help companies and workers upgrade to become more productive.

BANK lending rose 0.6 per cent in November, following two straight months of no growth, data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Wednesday.Loans through the domestic banking unit – which mainly reflect Singapore-dollar lending – stood at S$608 billion. This compares with S$604 billion in October.The lift came from business loans, which rose 0.8 per cent to S$373 billion in November. In October, it contracted by 0.3 per cent.

THE Singapore operations of food chain Jones the Grocer, which has gone bust in Australia where it originates, have not been hit by the restructuring Down Under, a senior executive of its majority shareholder L Capital Asia on Wednesday told The Business Times.”The Singapore business will be fine,” said chairman and managing partner Ravi Thakran at L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. “The prognosis is good.”

KEPPEL Corporation’s subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard, has secured its second floating liquefaction (FLNG) vessel conversion contract worth approximately US$705 million, from Norway’s Golar LNG.Under this agreement, Keppel will again convert an LNG carrier into an FLNG vessel for Golar, and will similarly engage engineering firm Black & Veatch (B&V) to provide design, procurement and commissioning support services for the topsides of the FLNG, and leverage B&V’s technology for the liquefaction process.

YING Li International Real Estate on Wednesday said it would expand into other first-tier cities outside of Chongqing, China, for the first time, with its investment in the Beijing Tongzhou Project with China Everbright Limited.This will be done by investing 559 million yuan (S$119 million) in Shanghai Zhao Li Investment Centre LLP that would give it a “limited partnership interest”. The centre would then effectively invest in the project. Ying Li did not give a clear breakdown of its eventual stake in the Beijing Tongzhou Project, but said the group will partner with China Everbright and other joint investors to invest 7.2 billion yuan in total in the project.

THE government can do more to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) restructure, said Deloitte Singapore in its 2015 Budget wish list released on Tuesday.For one thing, the accounting firm believes the effectiveness of the Productivity & Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme can be improved. It recommends combining the PIC cash payout across the relevant assessment years and increasing the payout cap instead of limiting it to S$100,000 per year of assessment.

SP Services said on Tuesday that electricity tariffs for the period from Jan 1 to March 31, 2015, will decrease by an average of 8 per cent, or 1.99 Singapore cents per kWh, compared to the previous quarter.”The tariff reduction is due to lower cost of fuel (i.e. natural gas) for electricity generation, which fell by 16.4 per cent compared to the previous quarter,” SP Services said.Fuel cost makes up about 50 per cent of the tariff, translating to a proportional reduction of 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 electricity tariff.

Singapore’s annual economic growth likely slowed in the fourth quarter after manufacturing output in November came in much weaker than expected, a Reuters poll showed.Gross domestic product was seen expanding 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, moderating from 2.8 per cent year-on-year growth in the third quarter, according to the median forecast in the poll of 12 economists.

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday said it will be offering a total of nine sites under the confirmed list and five sites on the reserve list totalling 14 hectares of land for sale under the Industrial Government Land Sales Programme for the first half of 2015.The confirmed list of nine sites occupies 6.46 hectares of land while the reserve list will yield 7.62 ha. In H2 and H1 2014, the figures for the confirmed list sites were 12.06 ha and 12.07 ha respectively.

A SECOND ex-president of Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd (ST Marine) has been charged in court, in a corruption scandal that has implicated six of its former high level executives.See Leong Teck, who was president of ST Marine from December 1997 and retired in February 2008, faces seven counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The 64-year-old is accused of conspiring with four former colleagues Mok Kim Whang, Patrick Lee Swee Ching, Teh Yew Shyan and Ong Teck Liam to corruptly bribe agents of ST Marine’s customers in return for ship repair contracts between 2004 and 2010.

THE National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday said the Euro VI emission standard for new diesel vehicles will be implemented in Singapore from the start of 2018.This standard, as set by by the European Union (EU), imposes strict rules on tailpipe emission for new vehicles sold in EU member states, NEA said.”In NEA’s continued effort to further improve air quality and safeguard public health, this latest and more stringent standard will serve to further reduce the emission of air pollutants such as fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides emission from diesel vehicles.”

ANOTHER single-digit fall in public housing resale prices next year would still be manageable and “a very good development”, Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said on Monday.It is a level people can accept and a balance between keeping homes affordable for homebuyers and preserving the asset values of home owners.Mr Khaw said this to reporters at the handover of the fifth completed block at the new Waterway Woodcress build-to-order (BTO) project. This also marks the Housing & Development Board (HDB) meeting its target of 28,000 new flats for 2014 – a record in recent years.

SMALL-MEDIUM enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore are citing a lower growth momentum and a more conservative outlook for the first-half of 2015.According to the latest SBF-DP SME Index – a six-month forward-looking index which measures SMEs’ sentiments – SMEs are tempering their outlook amid weaker market sentiment, an uneven global economy and domestic pressures. The overall index for Q1 2015 – Q2 2015 pulled back by 2.0 per cent to 54.4. A score of above 50 indicates that SMEs have a positive outlook for their business prospects for the next six months.

SINGAPORE will be scaling back the pace of public housing construction next year, with 26,000 HDB flats targeted, down from the 28,000 flats completed this year.Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for National Development, said in his blog on Monday that 2014 marks the turn of the housing market in Singapore. Prices have been moderating and the market shifting from a seller’s to a buyer’s market. In 2013, 13,600 flats were completed.

SINGAPORE’S Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore on Monday said Indonesia has accepted Singapore’s offer of two teams of specialists, and two sets of underwater locator beacon detectors to assist in locating the flight data recorders of the missing Indonesia AirAsia aircraft, QZ8501.The four specialists from the Singapore Ministry of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau and their equipment are ready to be deployed, pending the Indonesian authorities’ activation. SINGAPORE’S Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Monday said it has curbed the work pass privileges of Prime Gold International Pte Ltd (Prime Gold) for two years for retrenching Singaporeans and having them replaced by foreign workers.This is the first time the ministry has taken action against a company that discriminated against its Singaporean employees.No full description was provided for Prime Gold International, but an online check showed that the firm’s business includes barge operations.

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) said on Monday it will upgrade its derivatives trading and clearing platforms.The upgraded platforms, SGX TITAN, will strengthen SGX’s risk controls and system safeguards to help market participants manage their trading and clearing positions on a 24-hour basis, SGX said. They are expected to be rolled out around the end of calendar year 2016.SGX will also work with Nasdaq for a further six years to support and maintain the Nasdaq systems in its securities and derivatives markets.

SINGAPORE’S JTC Corporation has launched a site at Tuas South Street 7 (Plot 53) for sale by public tender under the second half 2014 Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) Programme.The 0.5 ha site was successfully triggered from the Reserve List with a minimum bid price of S$4.2 million. Zoned for Business-2 development, the land parcel has a tenure of 20 years 4 months and a gross plot ratio of 1.0.Industrialists can apply for the site before the tender closes on Feb 9, 2015 at 11.00am

CONTRARY to expectations, Singapore’s manufacturing sector slipped into contraction mode in November. Factory output declined 2.8 per cent year on year, as production in all clusters except electronics and precision engineering declined. The 17 economists polled by Bloomberg, before the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) released the numbers on Friday, had been expecting industrial production to rise by 0.3 per cent. Excluding the volatile biomedical sector – which contracted 1.1 per cent last month – output would have fallen by a larger 3.1 per cent.

THE Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) has come up with five recommendations, based on feedback from its Pre-Budget 2015 Survey:

Further widen coverage of Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) and Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV) schemes;

Arrest further cost increases in foreign worker policy or tightening of quota, and offer medical and insurance subsidies to encourage the hiring of older Singaporean workers aged 55 and above;

Engage in more consultation with trade associations or businesses before introducing new government policies to ease compliance costs;

Provide targeted funding for SMEs to venture into the Asean market to seize opportunities arising from the impending single Asean market in 2015

Singapore will provide advance estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter and for the year at 8am (0000 GMT) on Jan 2, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Friday. A quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) earlier this month showed that economists expect GDP to expand by 2.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter. Full-year growth for 2014 is expected to be 3.0 per cent.

A DIVERGENCE in monetary policies across the world next year will cause increased uncertainty in the global economy. Singapore, as a small and open economy, could be affected, one economist said as he cut his forecast for Singapore’s overall GDP growth next year from 3.6 per cent to 3.2 per cent. The Federal Reserve in the US is moving towards normalising interest rates gradually, with the market expecting a first hike in September.

BOARD appointment changes at the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS), JTC Corporation (JTC) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) were announced by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Friday.At CCS, current board member Aubeck Kam was appointed chairman of the board. Lam Chuan Leong will be stepping down as chairman of CCS after 10 years at the helm.

SINGAPORE’S headline inflation fell into negative territory to -0.3 per cent in November (from 0.1 per cent in October) – setting a new low since December 2009.The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in joint comments that this was “mainly on account of base effects associated with fluctuations in car Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums”, and that price increases for other major categories – except food – also eased.

Brent crude oil prices edged up on Tuesday following a volatile session the day before that saw contracts jump over 2 percentage points before falling back to not much more than US$60 a barrel.Asian trading was thin, curbed by a public holiday in Japan and as many traders close their books ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Front-month Brent crude futures were trading at US$60.42 per barrel at 0215 GMT, up 31 cents. US WTI crude was up 56 cents at US$55.82 a barrel.

SHARE buybacks slowed down to S$65 million for the week of Dec 15-19, compared to S$91 million the previous week, a market update from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said on Tuesday.More than half of SGX buybacks by value last week were done by oil rig builder Keppel Corp after shares had slumped from S$11 in August to below S$8 last week. Buybacks are typically a signal by companies that their shares are undervalued. Companies also take the opportunity when prices are low to buy back shares to issue to management and staff as part of executives’ performance share plans.

SINGAPORE regulators could lower some hurdles for selling wholesale bonds to retail investors, following feedback from the public.The latest proposals will relax conditions on deal size, a company’s past issuance and profitability. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) will also update the listing manual on matters related to trustees, who are typically responsible for taking action against defaulters on behalf of bondholders.

The recent drop in oil prices should persist, helping to boost global economic activity by 0.3 to 0.7 per cent next year, two senior IMF economists wrote in a blog on Monday.Brent prices have fallen more than 46 per cent since the year’s peak in June of above US$115 per barrel, sped up by the November decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) not to reduce production.

Singapore’s JTC awards tenders for two industrial sites. The plot at Tuas South Street 9 (Plot 50) has been awarded to Prospaq Group for S$6.88 million. The 8,369 square metre site is zoned Business 2. The tenure for the site, which has a gross plot ratio of 1.0, is 20 years and 8 months.The second plot, at Tampines North Drive 1 (Plot 1), has been awarded to Goldprime Land, for S$64.4 million. The 27,395.2 square metre site has a gross plot ratio of 2.5. The land tenure is 30 years.

Oil prices rose in Asia on Monday, extending a sharp rebound at the end of last week, with analysts predicting the sector has bottomed out after plunging almost 50 per cent since June.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery gained 79 cents to US$57.92 while Brent crude for February added 91 cents to US$62.29 in afternoon trade.”We do not expect WTI and Brent to test new lows this week,” said Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

China’s Xiaomi is raising over a US$1 billion (S$1.32 billion) from investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC that would value the smartphone maker at over US$45 billion, a person familiar with the deal said.The fund raising was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which also said this round was led by tech fund All-Stars Investment and included Russian tech fund DST Global and Yunfeng Capital, a private-equity firm affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd Executive Chairman Jack Ma.

Silverlake Axis (SAL) has formed a new 51:49 company, Silverlake HGH, with Andrew Holliday, MD of Finzsoft Solutions, a New Zealand-based financial technology company. Silverlake HGH will make a full takeover ofFinzsoft (FIN NZ, Not Rated) at NZD3.00 a share or 48.1% discount to Finzsoft’s last closing price of NZD5.78. Mr Holliday has committed to accepting the offer for his 65.9% stake in Finzsoft. In its press release, SAL highlights potentially strong synergies and the natural alignment of its target customers in the Asia Pacific.

Wilmar International – Better soybean crushing in FY15-:oybean-crushing margins still biggest swing factor. December’s weakness to be made up by Oct/Nov’s strength, supporting decent 4Q margins. Less speculative trading to benefit real soybean crushers like Wilmar, long term.

Biosensor International Group -:IG is currently trading at consensus 2015F and 2016F PE of 14.7x and 12.8x respectively. Consensus’ target price of S$0.66 represents an upside of 32%. After a slew of bad results and the 43% decline in the stock price ytd, Biosensors has appointed Mr. Jose Calle Gordo as the group’s new CEO in Sep-14. We met up with the management recently to understand the vision and transformation plans for the group. The following are the key transitions we look forward to over the next coming quarters.

Singapore REITs – Better prepared for volatility ahead‫ 4102 ‏‬has been a relatively solid year for the S-REITs sector. The FTSE ST REITs Index (FSTREI) has shown an appreciation of 7.8% YTD, outperforming the STI’s 2.4% increase during the same period. Operationally, we note that most REITs under OIR’s coverage have managed to report decent financial results for 9MCY14. Overall NPI, distributable income and DPU growth came in at 7.6%, 6.5% and 2.2%, respectively. From a regulatory standpoint, MAS released a consultation paper in Oct with proposals aimed at fostering stronger corporate governance practices, better aligning the interests of REIT managers and unitholders, as well as to provide REITs with more operational flexibility.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd. – Initial steps in the right direction-YZJ’s order book has yielded better than expected gross profit margins in 2014, driven by weaker steel prices as well as gains in construction efficiency for its first batch of large 10,000TEU containerships. About 25% of YZJ’s costs relate to steel plates, thus the 40% steel price fallen since these contracts were first inked in 2011 has boosted GP margins; while drydock days have been cut from 130 to 70. In 2015, we expect YZJ’s shipbuilding product mix to continue yielding healthy margins. YZJ expects to start recognizing revenue from a batch of high-priced bulk ships; this helps mitigate the impact of a 2nd batch of lower priced containership commencing recognition.

Silverlake Axis – Expanding Down Under-Silverlake Axis (SAL) has formed a new 51:49 company, Silverlake HGH, with Andrew Holliday, MD of Finzsoft Solutions, a New Zealand-based financial technology company. Silverlake HGH will make a full takeover ofFinzsoft (FIN NZ, Not Rated) at NZD3.00 a share or 48.1% discount to Finzsoft’s last closing price of NZD5.78. Mr Holliday has committed to accepting the offer for his 65.9% stake in Finzsoft. In its press release, SAL highlights potentially strong synergies and the natural alignment of its target customers in the Asia Pacific.

Our month-long Asia marketing trip revealed that investors are neutral to overweight on ASEAN telcos, largely due to their defensive qualities amid rising risk-aversion. This contrasts with our overall Neutral sector stance, which is based on the potential emergence of competitive/regulatory risks and fair-to-rich valuations after a 4-year bull run. We prefer Indonesia the most and Malaysia the least. Top picks: Telkom Indonesia, SingTel and Thaicom.

HSBC Global equities in 2015 – Earnings to set the speed limit-We see modest upside to global equities in 2015, with earnings growth taking over as the key driver of returns. We are overweight Europe and EM, and underweight the US. We recommend a defensive tilt at the sector level with overweight positions on Telecoms, Utilities, Consumer Staples and Financials. Our analysts identify four themes likely to drive returns over the next 12 months.

Oil prices edged higher in Asia on Thursday after data showed US stockpiles dipping, while the Federal Reserve indicated interest rates would not be hiked until the middle of next year. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose eight cents to US$56.55 while Brent crude for February gained 18 US cents to US$61.36 in mid-morning trade.The gains add to an advance Wednesday that came after the Department of Energy said reserves in the world’s top crude consumer fell by 800,000 barrels in the week ending December 12.

SEVERAL real estate investment trusts (Reits) have banded together to form an association – the Reit Association of Singapore (Reitas) – to promote the growth of Singapore’s Reit sector. It will be headed by a nine-member executive committee, comprising representatives from some of the major Reits and sponsors such as Mapletree, CapitaLand, Frasers and Keppel.

CREDIT Counselling Singapore (CCS) on Tuesday said the average number of debtors seeking help annually went from 650 in its first five years (2004 to 2008) to 1,377 in the last five years (2009 to 2013).For the first eight months of 2014, CCS counselled 1,509 individuals.CCS president Kuo How Nam said, however, that the statistics did not mean that Singapore’s debt situation was worsening. Instead, he attributed the increase in the number of individuals seeking CCS’ help, to the expansion in loans base and a greater awareness of CCS’ services.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited has completed the acquisition of 15,100 ordinary shares in the capital of PT OCBC Sekuritas from PT Farnella Mandiri Utama and the subscription of 240,000 new preference shares. Following completion of the Share Acquisition, OCBC Bank’s aggregate equity stake in the Company has increased from 80.0% to 95.1%. The aggregate consideration for Share Acquisition was Rp 255.5 billion or approximately S$27.3 million.

Yuan forwards fell to a two-year low after the central bank reduced the currency’s fixing by the most in six weeks amid dollar demand on bets the U.S. will increase interest rates next year.The People’s Bank of China cut the yuan’s reference by 0.09 percent, the most since Nov. 6, to 6.1195 against the greenback. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose the most since October yesterday after the Federal Open Market Committee said it would be “patient” on the timing of a rate increase, replacing a pledge to hold rates near zero for a “considerable time.”

Our month-long Asia marketing trip revealed that investors are neutral to overweight on ASEAN telcos, largely due to their defensive qualities amid rising risk-aversion. This contrasts with our overall Neutral sector stance, which is based on the potential emergence of competitive/regulatory risks and fair-to-rich valuations after a 4-year bull run. We prefer Indonesia the most and Malaysia the least. Top picks: Telkom Indonesia, SingTel and Thaicom.

Singapore’s economy watchers have tempered their expectations for GDP growth in 2014 from a quarter ago and are not expecting much improvement next year. Their inflation expectations too, have been adjusted lower.The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) latest quarterly poll of professional forecasters, sent out in late November, found that their median growth forecast for 2014 has fallen to 3 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the September survey. That is in line with the government’s forecast of “around 3 per cent” growth for the year.

DBS has cut its 2015 GDP growth forecast to 3.2 per cent from 3.6 per cent, amid concerns about a volatile year ahead – with possibly divergent monetary policies across key central banks worldwide.This would have a significant impact on financial markets, said DBS economist Irvin Seah in a research report. “Interest rate expectations will fluctuate and currencies will be volatile. Perhaps the only upside for the global economy next year is the lower oil prices.

Non-oil domestic exports rose 1.6 per cent in November from a year ago, reversing the 1.5 per cent dip in October, the latest trade figures released by International Enterprise Singapore this morning show. Month on month, the NODX extended October’s 1.1 per cent increase with a seasonally-adjusted 2.9 per cent jump to S$14.2 billion, according to the trade promotion agency’s figures. The electronics NODX continued to go downhill in November, posting a sharper 10.2 per cent drop on-year. The NODX fell 3.6 per cent in October.

Consumer confidence in Singapore has increased in December even though it is still nothing to cheer about.According to the ANZ-Roy Morgan, Singapore consumer confidence has risen slightly by 0.9 points to 121.8 in December, and is now just above the 2014 average of 121.1 points. “The Singaporean consumer has found a slight spark to end 2014 on a slightly more optimistic tone, but the granularity of our survey data hardly suggests a rebound in consumer confidence is in the offering.

Oil suffered fresh losses in Asia on Wednesday, sinking to new multi-year lows as dealers watch Russia’s ruble crisis and await the latest US crude supply report, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery sank US$1.16 in afternoon trade to US$54.77 while Brent crude for February fell 71 cents to US$59.30 on the contract’s first day of trading.

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) has come up with a novel way of monetising its Sentosa Cove assets in a soft property market, even as it anticipates more overseas acquisitions over the next few years.The Singapore-based developer cobbled together a club deal with US investment giant Blackstone and Malaysia’s CIMB Bank, which along with senior bank loans, amount to S$1.5 billion.

SHARE buybacks accelerated last week, with two of the five biggest purchases done by oil-related firms, data from Singapore Exchange (SGX) showed on Tuesday.These totalled S$91.1 million by 24 listed companies, up 3.52 per cent from S$88 million a week earlier.The five stocks with the largest buybacks in total value were Pacific Century Regional Developments, Genting Singapore, Keppel Corporation, OCBC and Sembcorp Industries.

Singapore Airlines Ltd’s Indian joint venture won a flying permit, paving way for it to start operations.The joint venture with India’s Tata conglomerate, which will operate under Vistara brand, plans to announce the sales, routes and schedules soon, it said in a statement.Vistara will fly Airbus A320-200 planes

The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of up to US$100 million to Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings, which the company said it plans to use to invest in infrastructure and logistics projects in Myanmar.Yoma said US$50 million would be earmarked to build telecom towers, develop cold storage logistics and vehicle fleet leasing. The second half of the loan will fund other projects in transportation, distribution, logistics and other sectors.

SINGAPORE Airlines’s (SIA) systemwide passenger carriage dropped 3.8 per cent year on year in November, against a 2.1 per cent reduction in capacity.Passenger load factor (PLF) declined 1.3 percentage points to 75.7 per cent, while the number of passengers carried fell 1.6 per cent to 1.52 million.

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to step up efforts to share tax-related information to tighten loopholes on tax evasion in each other’s countries, Indonesia’s finance ministry said. The commitment came after a meeting between Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro and his counterpart Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Singapore on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.

SINOPIPE Holdings’ subsidiary, Aton Plastics (Chongqing), has secured a contract worth 30 million yuan (S$6.35 million) related to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport’s rain drainage system. ton was alerted on Dec 2 that it was successful in its bid for the pipe and fittings procurement tender for the construction of a rain drainage system at the East Terminal and third runway at Chongqing Airport.